A promise made
by Rufus-sama
Summary: Post game, Pre AC. Elena was a bit jealous of the attention Rufus was receiving from Tseng. She turned to her fellow Turks for an explanation on the matter. Slightly fluffy. First story submitted! T for a few swear words and abuse. Please review!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: If I owned them, I wouldn't be writing about them. I'd be out doing stuff with them. :-)

------------------------------------------------------------------

Looking through the window of the President's hospital room, Elena couldn't help but feel a little jealous of the President. She wasn't jealous of the fact that he's been laying in a coma for a month, she was jealous because of the person that's been keeping a silent vigil by his side since he arrived.

When Tseng was released from the hospital, a stay caused by Sephiroth, he rushed to Rufus' side. what he found lying there wasn't what he was expecting at all. The other Turks had explained to him how they found him and told the grim prognosis from the doctors, but he was still surprised to see Rufus in the weak and frail condition he was in.

Thinking back on that day, Elena turned away from the window and looked at her other companions. Rude didn't do much. He sat there everyday and got coffee for everyone when he went and got some for himself. Despite everything that's happened, he still goes out with Reno every Friday night to have a drink at one of the bars that wasn't destroyed by meteor.

Reno on the other hand, was different. She was surprised to see him sitting on the couch that was near the door. She was expecting to see him pacing the floor or coming back from outside after having a smoke. He didn't like sitting there for too long, "drives me insane" he told her once. She figured it was a good a time as any to ask the question she'd been thinking about for a while.

Not really knowing how to start the topic, she just decided to spit the question out point blank. 'Reno, why is Tseng so concerned about Rufus?'

Reno raised his eyebrow at the question. 'What? And you don't think we're not concerned?'

'No, it's not that at all Reno. It's just that Tseng's been in there since he was released last week and he doesn't seem to be eager to leave anytime soon. You have to admit, it must be pretty boring sitting next to a guy in a coma all day. I'm just wondering what makes him sit there all day and not complain.'

Before Reno could reply, Rude simply stated 'Because he promised Rufus that he'd never be alone.'

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's note: I put Rude and Tseng almost as the same age. I see Tseng as being the oldest out of them, but Rude not that far behind. Let's say that if Tseng was 18 when this started, Rude is about 16.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Don't own them, never will…damnit.

A/N: After reading a couple of reviews, I decided to redo the story and add flashbacks. _Hopefully_ it adds to the story and doesn't make it drag on or make it boring. The flashbacks are in italics and unless otherwise marked, it's Reno doing the overall narration of the story.

Please review and let me know if my revision was worth it or not! I'll hand out cookies to those that do! Thanks!

---------------------------------------------------------------

'It's pretty simple Elena.' Reno started 'But to fully understand it, you'll have to hear a bit of history. Sit down and get comfy and I'll explain it. Lucky for you I'm in the story-telling mood.' Thinking about hearing Reno tell a serious story seemed too outrageous and abnormal. But, she was curious to hear the history between Tseng and Rufus, so she sat down next to him and waited for him to start.

'I heard the story from Rude since I wasn't around at the time. Maybe it would be better if he said it.' Rude shook his head. 'You like telling stories a lot more then I do. You tell it. If you screw something up I'll explain it.' Reno nodded his head and began.

'When Tseng started working for the Turks he was 18, which means that Rufus was around 10 or so. One of Tseng's jobs was to guard the President and his family, like it is for us now. About a year went by and the President told Rufus and his mother he wanted to take a vacation. Since they needed a guard, Tseng went with them. The President ended up ordering Rude to go for some reason too, which was odd to Tseng and Rude at the time, but it made sense later on. Rude didn't complain though about having to go, I mean who would complain about going on a trip to Costa Del Sol?'

'Anyway, Rufus was excited to go on a trip since he never had a vacation before so him and his mother were sitting together talking about all the fun stuff they'd be able to do and see.'

_'When we get there, can we go to the beach mom? I heard that Costa has the clearest water ever and it would be fun to play around in it.' His mother couldn't help but look at him at laugh happily with him. _

'Yes Rufus, we'll go to the beach. I'll teach you how to snorkel too, bet you didn't know your mother could do that now did you?'

'You can snorkel? That would be so much fun to do! I heard that there are lots of nice colorful fish down there that would be fun to look at.' Rufus was getting more excited about the trip as the minutes went on. 'Can we go around the town too mom?'

'Yes dear, wherever you want to go.'

'can we have lunch by the beach?'

'Yes dear, we can have lunch on the beach.'

'Can I stay up past my bedtime?'

Although she was happy to see him this excited, it was starting to get tiresome. 'Rufus! Yes already! We'll do all those things and more, plus you can stay up past your bedtime. Ok sweetie?'

'Ok Mom. Hey Mom?' 'Yes dear?' 'What else is there to do in Costa anyway?'

She was about to reply to him and tell him about all the things that they have there for kids to do when his father cut her off.

'His old man was sitting across from them, Tseng was sitting beside Rufus and his mom while Rude was beside the dear old former President. Daddy dearest was getting upset at the two for talking I guess so he told them to shut up.'

Rude coughed and shook his head 'Not quite Reno. If it would have been just a shut up, it might not have been that bad. He ended up yelling at his wife to shut the hell up and that she was better seen and not heard. Then he told her that she better keep the kid quiet while in Costa or he'd personally make sure that the kid would stay quiet.'

_'Both of you just shut the hell up. You keep you mouth shut woman, I've always said you're better seen, not heard. And you better keep that damn kid quiet Elizabeth if you value his well-being. If that brat says so much as one damn word without me telling him to while in my presence, I'll make sure he can't speak for a week! Do you understand me?' _

Rufus' mother looked down at her son and held him closer. She then turned her head to stare absently at the ground moving beneath them. Rufus was staring at his father, at a loss as to what just occured. His father noticed Rufus didn't know what to make of what happened, so he decided to elaborate.

"You didn't really think it was a vacation my dear boy did you? Heh, give me one good reason to treat you to an actual vacation? I have some dinner meetings to attend and what better way to make a good impression then to bring my lovely caring family with me. You better act like the perfect son boy or I'll make sure you'll regret it.'

'Rufus had a look on his face like his world just ended. He just stared at his old man. You could tell he was scared to ask anything, but it looked like he was hoping that his old man would let him to at least something fun.'

'But sir? Could I have at least one morning, or an afternoon at the beach? Even one hour? Please sir? I won't ask you for anything again, just one hour on the beach would be fun.'

Instead of a reply, he was met with a stiff backhand across the face and his father's laughter. Tears welled up in Rufus' eyes as he fell back on the seat and leaned on his mother.

'You little brat, your weren't brought along to have "fun", you were brought along to work. There's no "vacation time" on this 'vacation'. You are here to show to the world that I am a "family man" and that's it. Your job while you're here is to make everyone see us as a perfect happy family. You're going to dinner parties and you better not speak unless you are spoken to. Get used to it boy, you are not my son so that you can "have  
fun".'

Elena couldn't help but widen her eyes and gasp slightly. 'Poor Rufus! And he was looking forward to his first ever vacation too.' Rude nodded his head and continued 'We didn't know what to do. What made it worse was that we know there was nothing that we _could_ do. I mean, we know he's the President, but you shouldn't hit a kid, especially one asking to have just a few hours on a beach. We felt bad for Rufus, but it's not like we could do anything about it so we thought it best to leave it at that.

You could tell Rufus was trying so hard to keep himself from crying. His father hit him pretty hard. If he would have cried, his father would have hit him again anyway. He just sat back for the rest of the ride, leaning on his mother, looking out the window.' Rude then turned his head to Reno, 'Alright, you can continue now.'

'As I was sayin', like Rude said, they felt bad for what his dad said and did to Rufus but they couldn't do anything about it. When they landed Tseng stayed a bit behind the President to talk to Rufus.

_  
'Rufus?' Sad blue eyes looked up to the one that spoke his name. 'Yes Tseng?' 'If you would like sir, I would be happy to take you to the beach. I could also arrange to show you the rest of the town as well. There is not much to this town, other then its beaches, but I could show you everything that would be of interest to you.' _

'You would...do that for me?' The surprise and suspicion was easy to detect in Rufus' voice. 'Of course I would. I will have some spare time while we're here and I'm certain you will as well.' Rufus still wasn't sure what to make of that offer. 'Thank you for the offer Tseng. While I would love to see the beach and the city, I doubt that my old man will let me out of his sight, nor let you go for that matter.'

'Rufus-sama, don't worry about it. I will find a way to have us both leave the hotel and take you to the beach. I'll ask Rude to do some of the guard duties, it can be arranged. Would you like for me to show you around?'

'Yes Tseng I would. If you can arrange it, I would like to go with you.' Looking past Tseng his gaze fell on his mother. 'Can mom come too?' Seeing the hope in Rufus' eyes made it harder to tell him no. 'I'm sorry sir, I'd be able to sneak you out, but it would be very hard to sneak both you and your mother.'

His mother walked up to them, putting an arm around Rufus. 'Don't worry about me sweetie, you go with Tseng and have fun. He'll take you around town and he'll be sure to keep you safe alright? It would be too difficult to have me join the two of you.' With a sigh Rufus agreed. She kissed the top of his head then looked to Tseng. 'I trust you to take good care of him.' Tseng bowed his head to her. 'Yes Ma'am, I promise he'll be safe with me.'

'Somehow, he managed to find a way around Rufus' old man and got him to the beach. Don't ask me what they did at the beach since Rude wasn't there, so he obviously can't say. Anyway, his father never found out about it. Tseng managed to sneak Rufus out a couple more times during the week and showed him the rest of Costa. Granted, there's not much to see in Costa, but to Rufus I'm sure it was a lot. On their way home, Rufus was sitting with him mom, like he did on the way there, but he didn't say a word the whole way home. The things he wanted to talk about he couldn't since his old man didn't know a thing about them and if he did find out, all hell would break loose. His father and mother kept glaring at each other the whole trip home though. Like everyone used to say, when that man glared at you, you knew you were in for it.'

'Did anything happen between his parents during the trip? Maybe his father did find out about Rufus leaving and blamed it on his mother?'

'His parents never got along they were always arguing about something. I doubt he found out, I guess it's possible, but I doubt it. Anyway, when they landed, his old man turned to Rufus and his mother and told them to stay out of his way and out of his sight until he needed them again. He then turned to Rufus and told him that he expected him at his office on Monday morning at 8 am. Rufus nodded his head at his old man and made his way to his room with his mom.'

'Did anyone hear what went on in his father's office when he visited him that Monday?'

'Quit interrupting Elena, you're ruining my train of thought.' Elena tried to suppress a giggle but couldn't help but laugh. 'What's so funny?' 'Just you Reno, having an actual train of thought. It seems odd to hear the words "train of thought" coming from you.' Reno didn't really see the humor in the comment. Shrugging his shoulders he replied 'Well, the story stops here I guess. It's your fault that you'll be missing the rest of the story. Pity too, I was getting to the good part.' With his ever-present smirk still on his face, he leaned back on the couch, hands behind his head and closed his eyes.

'Oh you're not fair! Geez Reno you started the story, now finish it before Tseng comes out here and you don't have the chance.'

'Tseng? Come out here? I think his ass is crazy glued to that seat. He won't be coming out anytime soon. Maybe I should take a smoke break and finish this story later.' 'No you don't Reno! Sit down and finish this story!' With a sigh she finished 'I'm just curious as to how Tseng ended up so attached to Rufus. It was sweet of him to do the beach thing, but that doesn't make it so that they're practically attached at the hip at the moment.'

With a smirk, he placed a finger over Elena's lips, 'Are you through yet? That's the part I'm up to now please, hush and let me continue. Are you going to be quiet?' Elena sighed and nodded her head yes so Reno backed away from Elena and continued.


	3. Chapter 3

'Now where was I? Oh yes, Rufus visiting his father. That visit was pretty much the same as every other meeting they had. Namely, his old man blaming Rufus for something he really didn't have any control over and then beating him up for it.'  
_  
Rufus arrived at his father's office at 8:00 am sharp, as he did every Monday. He looked at the door made a move to knock but then stopped. He was both scared to knock and scared not to knock. He knew that either way he'd get a beating. It was only up to him what he was going to get beat up for; being late to see his father or for some stupid reason his father would make up once he got in his office. Rufus decided that he would probably get beat up less for something he wasn't directly responsible for so he hesitantly knocked on the door, awaiting his father's permission to enter._

Rude was standing guard in the office as it was usual to have a Turk guarding the President at all times. He heard his father's voice; 'Open the door Turk.' then the door opened slowly before him. He glanced up at Rude then to his father and made himself take a few steps into the office so that Rude could shut the door.

'You're late boy.' Rufus quickly turned his gaze from Rude to his father. 'No sir, I am on time, as always.' His father quickly made his way from his desk to his son, grabbing him by the arms and squeezing as hard as he could. 'Are you calling me a liar, you little brat?'

Rufus knew there was no point in arguing. 'No sir, I'm not. I apologize for being late.' Instead of an acknowledgement of the apology, he was met with a hand to the side of his face. 'Do you know how precious my time is boy? I have no extra time to spare on the likes of you.' Rufus hung his head and resisted the urge to rub his cheek. Doing so would only make his father hit him there again.

'Now boy, what is this I hear about you being late for your classes? Your teacher contacted me this morning and informed me that you were late twice last week. I don't pay that teacher for nothing and if your ass is not in that seat, then I'm giving my money away because of you!'

'I can explain sir, the elevator was jammed on one of the days and I was stuck there for a little while. I explained that to him.' Mid way through his explanation, Rufus was thrown against the wall on the far side of his father's office, the force of the impact making it hard for him to breathe. He felt himself gradually sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. He glanced over to Rude who had lowered his head, not wanting to see what the  
elder Shinra was doing to his son.

'I don't care what your explanation is boy! Leave earlier if you have to. I really don't care if it means you get up earlier or you can't "play" or see your mother. You go where I tell you to go and at the time I tell you to.' He was then acquainted with his father's boot which kicked him square in the stomach. 'Get up you worthless brat.'

He followed Rufus' gaze towards Rude and began laughing. 'Don't look to anyone to help you boy. No one can stand you and you know it. You don't even have friends, that's how pathetic you are. If you did have people with you, you probably would have to pay them to stick around.'

He grabbed Rufus by the collar and lifted him up off the floor. He then shoved Rufus towards the door, making him lose his footing and fall near Rude's feet. He was trying to get himself up, but his arms were sore from where his father squeezed them and the rest of him was begging for a few minutes reprieve from the abuse they received.

His father looked up from his desk and sighed. 'What a pathetic sight you are. You really are a worthless kid. Rude, get that brat out of here.' Wordlessly Rude nodded and helped Rufus to his feet. 'Just lean on me sir, I'll help you out.' He whispered quietly to Rufus. Rufus nodded his head and put his weight on Rude, which wasn't much. 'One day Rude, I will get him back for this.' Rude looked down at Rufus and smiled. 'I know you will sir,  
can't say he doesn't have it coming either. Will you be alright?' 'Yes Rude, I'll be fine.' Rude helped him to the elevator and Rufus made his way to his class.  


After their 'vacation' in Costa, Tseng made it a point to visit Rufus when he could and see if there was something that Rufus wanted to do. Rude said that the first few times Tseng would come back to the office a little disappointed since he said that Rufus didn't believe he wanted to spend time with him and thought it was his old man that had made Tseng come by to watch him.'

'Which wasn't true in the least bit, but Rufus didn't know any better.' Rude added in. 'Every time they met, he'd always put Rufus down and tell him that no one would spend time with him willingly; they'd have to be paid for it. So that's why he thought Tseng wasn't sincere.'

'That sucks though, what kind of dad says that to his 11 year old kid?' Rude shrugged at Reno's comment. 'Someone that didn't want a kid and only wanted someone to take over his company.'

Shaking his head, Reno continued where he left off. 'Eventually though, Rufus gave in and did a few things with Tseng. Rude had asked Tseng a couple of times what he did with Rufus when he went up to see him when he was on duty. Don't look at me that way Elena, he went and saw Rufus when he had no paperwork or assignments to do.'

_  
'I'm taking my lunch Rude; I'll be back in a little while.' Rude nodded his head. 'Yes sir. And Tseng? Say hello to Rufus for me.' Tseng stopped mid-way to the door glanced over to Rude. 'What makes you think I'm going to visit Rufus?'_

A small chuckle escaped from Rude 'Whenever you have the chance, you're up there checking on that kid. What do you do up there with him anyway?'

Tseng shrugged his shoulders. 'Not much really. I help him with his homework, or just play a game with him, he's pretty good at chess for an eleven year old. Sometimes I go upstairs and help clean him up after he visits his father. He doesn't like having his mother see him after that happens. It's not like I don't have the time, I'm caught up with my paperwork.'

'Ok, so you go check up on him for something to do when you have no work while on the clock? Then why do you come by and visit him on the days you aren't on the clock? Trying to get overtime?'

'Of course not.' Rude raised an eyebrow at Tseng's curt reply. 'Then why Tseng?'

'I don't know, there are a lot of reasons. Sometimes it's because I'm curious if the homework I did with him was done correctly. Other times I want to see how a project he was working on is going. Sometimes it's because I have a chess game with him that I have to finish. Sometimes I come by because he was sick the day before and I want to be sure he's ok.'

'He has a mom for that Tseng.' Tseng shook his head. 'Yes I know, but it's not the same. His mother has things to do as well and sometimes it's just not the same doing things with your mom and fun to do stuff with someone else. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an eleven year old waiting for me to have lunch.'  


'In all honesty, he did for Rufus what his old man should have done for him but never did. Rufus ended up being happier then he'd been in a while. One Monday though, when he went to his father's office like he always did, things kind of went downhill for him from there. After a rather lengthy meeting, complete with it's usual share of bruises, he said to Rufus that he should spend the most time he can with his mother from now on because 'you never know when an "accident" involving her might happen.'

'Rufus already spent a lot of time with his mother, she was pretty much all he had since he was born. She was the only person that took care of him or did anything for him, except for Tseng after the vacation, but still, his mom was everything to him. I think the old man knew it too. He blamed Rufus' mother for Rufus having a heart to begin with.'

'Rufus wasn't always the way he is now. Rude said when he used to be a regular kid, he liked to play and joke around, when he was allowed to, which his father really didn't approve of in the least. To his father, Rufus was "too nice" with the hired help and employees.

Anyway, Rufus listened to his old man and spent a lot more time with him mom. About a month later, the company executives and other "important people" were at the funeral of Mrs. Shinra. According to official records, she died of alcohol poisoning. Everyone knows better then that; she never drank in her life. She never did anything like that so that so that she could give her full attention to Rufus and watch over him.'


	4. Chapter 4

Elena's mouth gaped open in shock 'You mean old man Shinra killed his wife? What the hell for?'

Reno and Rude both shrugged their shoulders. Rude was the first to reply, 'Really, there was no reason to kill her, then again to him I guess there was no reason to keep her alive either. She gave him an heir to the company and he felt that Rufus was getting too "soft" because of her and he didn't want a nice guy taking over his company. As mean as it sounds, he only really talked to her when he needed someone on his arm at official functions. We all know his track record at the Honeybee inn, so he didn't care about her for that.'

Reno nodded his head and continued with the story. 'After his mother died, he stopped talking to everyone the way he used to. He still talked to Tseng now and then, but kept his distance from him too. It's like overnight he became the guy that his dad wanted him to be, cold and distant.'

'Tseng was tired of Rufus avoiding him and went up to see him. Tseng went along with Rude in the hallway that led to Rufus' room and waited for him to come back from school. Ok, so it was a tutor 30 floors down, it was still school.'

_'Are you sure he'll be coming in from here sir?' Rude looked his shades at the man standing next to him._

'Yes Rude, I'm sure. It's the only elevator he can get off of to get to his room from his tutor. Now please, go hide behind that wall. I don't want him to see you, but you have to ready to block his way when he tries to get back into the elevator.'

'Ok, Tseng, if you say so. But why would he try to get back into the elevator?' 'Because for some reason or another, he doesn't want to talk to me. I'll corner him and make him talk to me and explain why he doesn't want to see me.'

Rude noted the hurt in Tseng's voice that he was trying to hide. 'I don't think it's necessarily you he doesn't want to see Tseng. He does like spending time with you, I'm sure there's a good reason as to why he's stopped talking to you. Well, as good of a reason that an eleven year old can have anyway.'

Tseng sighed, 'I'm sure he has a good reason, but I would like to know what it is. I don't like seeing him alone like this, especially not now.' He heard the chime from the elevator. 'Go hide Rude, he's coming.'

Rude managed to hide himself from Rufus just as the elevator doors were opening. Head down, Rufus made his way from the elevator and made his way to his room. When he lifted his head up, he noticed Tseng standing in the hallway. He tried to turn away and head back to the elevator, but found that a wall that was not there previously was now in front of him.

'Rude, could you move please? I forgot something in my tutor's room.' Rude shook his head, 'Nice try sir, I'm sure your tutor will give it to you tomorrow. Someone wants to talk to you and see how you're doing. Just go say a few words to him alright?' Poor kid, you need someone with you now, don't push him away.

Seeing how Rude wasn't going to move, he didn't have any other choice but to go see Tseng. He turned away from Rude and walked down the hall to Tseng.

'Hello Tseng.' 'Hello Rufus-sama. How are you?'

Rufus shrugged, 'I'm fine.'

'I haven't seen you much since your mother passed away, are you doing ok? Did you want to talk about it?'

'No, I'm fine.'

'How's school?'

'Fine.'

'How's Dark Nation?'

'Fine.'

'Rufus, please talk to me. Why are you doing this? Why are you pushing me away? I want to help you, but you have to talk to me.'  


'What did Rufus answer? Come on Reno, don't leave me hanging.' Reno looked up at her from the top of his coffee cup. 'Can I have a sip of coffee here Elena? Geez, most of the time you tell me to shut up and now you're begging me to keep talking. I'm growing on you aren't I?'

He gave her a smug smile and moved closer to where she was sitting on the couch. She pushed Reno away and moved towards the opposite edge of the couch. 'Hardly Reno. For once you have something worthwhile listening to, so I figured I'd enjoy it. Now, please, continue.' 'Alright, alright 'Lena. Now where was I? Oh yeah, what Rufus had to say.'

_  
Tseng knelt down to Rufus' height and looked him in the eye. 'Please Rufus, just tell me why.'_

Rufus sighed and looked away from Tseng. 'It's nothing you did Tseng. I would still like to spend time with you, but I think it's best if you didn't stick around me so much so that you won't get hurt.'

Tseng couldn't hide the confusion from his voice or his face. 'So I won't get hurt? Rufus-sama, I don't understand. How would I get hurt by spending time with you?

'Tseng, he killed my mother, whom he "loved so very much" because I loved her and because she spent lots of time with me. Who's to stop him from killing an employee for the exact same reason? I don't want you to die because of me Tseng. I don't want to be responsible for your death too. It's alright Tseng, I was just meant to be alone. I can deal with that. I'll be too busy working all the time when I'm older anyway so I might as well  
get used to it now. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine.'  


'Poor kid. Parents are supposed to try to get their kids to talk to other people, not have them stay by themselves so that they can be used when the parent needs them for their business.' Rude mused out loud 'He'd only let Rufus out to attend social events and be used as the "poster boy" for the company, not have him go out and actually talk to people and socialize. You know, Tseng's usually a pretty tough guy and not much ever seemed to bother him, but I guess hearing an 11 year old kid say that they're better off alone is his breaking point.'

'Well fuck Rude, I thought I was telling the story. Feel free to continue though, since ya know, you were there and all.' Reno gazed up at his friend 'Besides, I need a smoke anyway.' With that, he lit one up.

'I think I will Reno. By the way, you're not supposed to smoke in a hospital.' 'Screw that, it's raining outside and you might mess up the story so it's best that I stick around.' Shaking his head, Rude continued.

'Tseng pretty much looked crushed after he heard Rufus talk like that. Hell, even I felt bad for the little guy, kids shouldn't feel that way. When Rufus was done with his explanation, Tseng looked Rufus in the eye and said as nicely as I've ever heard him speak.

_  
'Rufus Shinra, don't think like that. I promise you that as long as I am alive, you will never be alone. You know that I will always be here for you and no matter what you do, you will not push me away; I won't let you. You don't have to avoid me for my own safety; I will worry about my own safety myself. I'm not worried about that. I am more worried about your safety and well-being. You just worry about the normal things you should worry about, like your schoolwork and I'll worry about the safety issue. Alright?'_

He looked at Tseng, relief evident in his eyes. He was sure that Tseng was going to agree to what he thought and wouldn't push it further.

'You promise you won't leave me Tseng?'

'Yes sir, I promise.'

'Shake on it?'

'Alright.'

Tseng took Rufus' outstretched hand and Rufus couldn't help but smile.

'Thank you Tseng. If you'll excuse me though, I have some homework that I have to do for tomorrow so I can't talk now.'

'Would you like some help?'

'Yes, I would appreciate that. Thank you.'

Rufus walked past Tseng and walked towards his room. Tseng turned back to Rude, to speak with him for a moment.

'Thank you for the help Rude.'

'No problem sir.'

'You're free to go back downstairs to your office Rude, or wherever it was you were going before I dragged you up here.'

'Thank you sir.'

'I've seen Rufus smile before, but I think that the smile that he got on his face that day was the most genuine one I've ever seen on him.' Rude remembered. 'It was also a good start; Tseng got him to talk for more then a minute and got him to smile for the first time since his mother died. After Tseng relieved me, I turned around and went back down to the office and didn't see them for the rest of the day. I think things went well though; when Tseng came to work the next day, he looked a lot happier then he did the day before.'

Taking one last puff from his cigarette, Reno turned to Elena. 'Well, there's your story Elena. Now you know why Tseng and Rufus are so close. Personally, I'm worried about when Rufus wakes up. Tseng will probably not let the guy move an inch without doctor's permission.'

Elena sat there for a minute and let it sink in. She didn't know much about Rufus' past but given what she learned, she can kind of understand why he ended up the way he is now. Although she did up with the answer she was looking for, she was left with more questions then before. 'So what happened when Rufus was in Junon? Did they lose touch or did Tseng keep his promise?'

'That Elena is another story altogether. It's just as depressing though, maybe more.' 'How the hell can it be as depressing then getting beaten by your father and him murdering your mother?' 'You wouldn't think it could get worse, but trust me Elena,' Reno said between puffs 'it does. Maybe I'll tell it to you someday if you still want to hear it.'

---------------------------------------------------------------

Was the revision worth it? Please R&R: - )


End file.
